Minnesota Wild's Chris Stewart (10) scores on Chicago Blackhawks' Corey Crawford during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jim Young)

Chicago Blackhawks' Corey Crawford, right, makes a save on Minnesota Wild's Jason Zucker during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jim Young)

Chicago Blackhawks' Brent Seabrook, right, goes over the boards after missing a check on Minnesota Wild's Marcus Foligno during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jim Young)

Minnesota Wild's Devan Dubnyk makes a save against the Chicago Blackhawks during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jim Young)

The Chicago Blackhawks' Tommy Wingels (57) battles against a group of Minnesota Wild players in the first period at the United Center in Chicago on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS)

Minnesota Wild's Tyler Ennis loses his helmet as he collides with Chicago Blackhawks' Connor Murphy during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jim Young)

The Chicago Blackhawks' Richard Panik (14) and the Minnesota Wild's Matt Cullen (7) battle in the first period at the United Center in Chicago on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS)

Minnesota Wild's Marcus Foligno, left, holds the helmet of Chicago Blackhawks' John Hayden during a fight in the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jim Young)

Chicago Blackhawks' Corey Crawford, right, makes a save on Minnesota Wild's Charlie Coyle during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jim Young)

Minnesota Wild's Marcus Foligno, right, lands a punch on Chicago Blackhawks' John Hayden during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jim Young)

Minnesota Wild's Eric Staal scores on Chicago Blackhawks' Corey Crawford during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jim Young)

The Minnesota Wild's Eric Staal (12) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal in the second period against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center in Chicago on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS)

The Chicago Blackhawks' Jonathan Toews (19) falls to the ice in the second period against the Minnesota Wild at the United Center in Chicago on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS)

Chicago Blackhawks' Tommy Wingels (57) checks Minnesota Wild's Mikko Koivu into the boards during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jim Young)

Minnesota Wild's Jason Zucker, right, celebrates his goal against the Chicago Blackhawks with teammate Matt Dumba during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jim Young)

The Chicago Blackhawks' John Hayden, right, and the Minnesota Wild's Marcus Foligno, left, fight in the second period at the United Center in Chicago on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS)

Chicago Blackhawks' Ryan Hartman, center, celebrates his goal against the Minnesota Wild with teammates Connor Murphy, left, and Patrick Kane during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jim Young)

CHICAGO — While the Wild earned their first victory of the season on Thursday night with a 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center, it might have come at a steep cost.

Already without Zach Parise and Mikael Granlund, the Wild lost Marcus Foligno, Nino Niederreiter and Charlie Coyle in the matchup. They finished the game with only eight forwards on the bench yet somehow found a way to come away with the win.

“I think it was a gutsy effort by our club,” coach Bruce Boudreau said. “I’ve been in the minors for a lot of years and played shorthanded like that. I don’t think I’ve played shorthanded like that in the NHL.”

That effort came hours after the 62-year-old coach implored somebody on his team to “step up” as the Wild entered the contest with the mighty Blackhawks undermanned.

“If we sit there and pull the woe-is-me thing, then we’re always getting our built-in excuse for failure,” Boudreau said before the game. “We are a group that doesn’t ever want to have that particular thought.”

And while the Wild left Chicago even more undermanned than when they arrived, they followed orders as various players stepped up throughout the night.

“With injuries comes opportunity,” said Chris Stewart, who scored two goals, including the game-winner. “When guys go down we want to step up for our teammates. It was me tonight. Who knows, it can be someone else next game.”

Devan Dubnyk was a secondary star, finishing with 37 saves, and Eric Staal, Jason Zucker and Mikko Koivu also scored goals for the Wild as they ran away with the win down the stretch.

It wasn’t easy, though.

Foligno left the game in the second period after a fight with Blackhawks winger John Hayden, and Niederreiter and Coyle went down a mere minutes apart in the third period.

That made for a stressful final frame.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a bench like that in the third period since I’ve been a pro,” Zucker said. “It was about digging down deep and making sure we got the two points. … We had guys that don’t typically kill penalties that were killing. We had guys on the power play that typically aren’t there. Everybody was all chipping in and doing a little extra. That was huge for us.”

Stewart scored the game-winner midway through the final frame a little more than two minutes after the Blackhawks leveled the score.

“I thought our resiliency (was great), especially after they tied it where we could’ve gone, ‘Oh my god. Here they go,’ ” Boudreau said. “And we came right back and scored.”

Zucker added an insurance goal less than two minutes later and Stewart and Koivu added empty-net goals down the stretch for good measure.

It wasn’t a high-scoring affair early on despite what the final score might read.

While the Blackhawks entered the game outscoring their opponents 10-1 in the first period, the Wild rose to the occasion to keep the game scoreless heading into intermission.

In the second period the game started to pick up with both teams generating a number of scoring chances before Staal finally gave the Wild the lead with 35 seconds left in the frame. That capped a frantic 20 minutes that featured Dubnyk making 16 saves on 16 shots.

“He was unbelievable in the second period,” Boudreau said. “That was the Devan Dubnyk we knew last year.”

Blackhawks winger Ryan Hartmann finally solved Dubnyk in the third period, which paved the way for Stewart to play hero.

“We knew guys had to step up and we did that tonight,” Stewart said. “We will enjoy this tonight and get back to work tomorrow.”

Niederreiter and Coyle are expected miss the home opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night. With the Wild being so close to the salary cap, that means they could be forced to play that game shorthanded.

“If we can come away from this in a good frame then that’s great,” Boudreau said. “You have to accept challenges. This is a real big challenge early on in the year.”

“We are going to battle through,” Zucker added. “We have great leadership in this room. I know it’s going to be a battle. I think we’re ready for it.”

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